âThis is why we can't leave the making of laws to men. They result in travesties of injustice that unfairly burden the poor. And women. Those high and mighty aristocrats, in their black robes and powdered wigsâthey have no idea.â

Powerful drama about women convicts transported on a slave ship from England to Australia in the 1840s and a young aborigine girl Mathinna, daughter of the Chief of the Lowreenne tribe, stolen from the only home she knew in Tasmania and relocated by the new governor of Van Diemen's Land.

Have to admit, I couldn't book the book down. The main characters of Evangeline, Hazel, Olive and Mathinnia stole my heart.

My one criticism is I felt they never finished Mathinnia's story and kind of left her hanging.

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"This is why we can't leave the making of laws to men. They result in travesties of injustice that unfairly burden the poor. And women. Those high and mighty aristocrats, in their black robes and powdered wigs - they have no idea." - The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

The Exiles features three young women who are powerless in their mid-1800s worlds of London and Australia. At the whim of aristocratic white British citizens, they're torn from their lives and imprisoned albeit in very different ways. Overall this story is dark and depressing, likely very representative of actual experiences of far too many women of the time.

After enduring years of deplorable conditions, some of the characters have a satisfying ending. I was truly shocked by one plot point, and cheered when women used their power in the latter half of the novel.

I appreciated that when the stories converged, it was apparent to the reader but not the characters. No âcoincidental beyond beliefâ plot twists here.

Reading this via audiobook was a good choice; narrator Caroline Lee's Aussie accent provided a strong sense of place. [Review written February 21, 2021]

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